Consumer and business users want to access digital information such as broadcast TV; internet text, graphics, and video; and social networking media across different devices. These devices include laptop computers, smart phones, TVs, and tablets and each device has its own interface, content metaphor, format, and access method. Users' experience with digital content over different devices is poor for two reasons: 1) the quality of the information delivery is varied and, 2) users are required to learn how to use each device in order to receive their desired information. This learning process is time consuming and does not guarantee the users' success.
In addition, although certain technologies, such as Internet browsers and multimedia players, provide some centralized manner of accessing digital information, such technologies are largely static. As a result, these technologies cannot be customized for individual user preferences.
For example, in the broadcast TV environment, users select and receive information using traditional channel guides. With this technology, user interaction and information customization is extremely limited. The ability to combine broadcast TV content with other forms of information, such as social media, is restricted.
In other information areas such as healthcare, finance, and home security, users want to do more than just access information: users want to combine and interrogate information to produce more meaningful interactions with information and other users.